Projects
Create a raised, no-dig garden bed
No dig gardens are great because they’re
less work – and you can make one just about
anywhere! No-dig gardens have even been
created on top of concreted patches or on an
existing lawn. Just remember, if you are
building your bed on concrete, you’ll need a
layer of sticks or other coarse material
on
the base to ensure that the water can drain
away.
Generally, you can start your no-dig garden
by:
- First choosing a sunny position then
building the sides, using boards or
bricks. - Next lay sheets of newspaper to
cover the base. This layer should be
about 5mm thick, with the edges
well overlapped. - Next spread a layer of coarse straw,
followed by nitrogen-rich pea straw. - Sprinkle on some Yates Blood &
Bone, Dynamic Lifter Organic plant
food and some garden lime. - Water well
- If you have room, you can add more
similar layers. - Tip a few circles of rich, home-made
compost and some Black Magic
Seed Raising Mix on top of the soil.
Water, drain and plant seeds or
seedlings. - As seedlings begin to grow start
feeding them with a liquid food like
Yates Black Magic Seedling fertiliser. - Water regularly but gently so that you
don’t wash away your seeds or baby
plants. - As the plants grow the whole yummy
jumble starts to break down and
create its own rich soil. - In spring you can sow seeds of
beans, sweet corn, tomatoes,
courgettes and pumpkins. - In autumn plant cabbages, broad
beans, peas, radish and spinach. - When the crop is finished, you can
add another layer and replant.
It’s important to remember the words ‘no-
dig’. If you dig the garden, you disturb the
layers. Just add more compost, manure and
straw when it’s needed between crops.
Try to practise simple crop rotation by
making successive plantings from different
plant groups (e.g. follow a leafy crop like
lettuce with a fruiting crop such as
tomatoes).
Weeding should be minimal but sometimes
the straw will produce seedlings. These can
be simply scuffed out when they’re tiny and
left on the surface to die and add their
goodness to the mix.
This process is very easy but, if you forget
how to go about it, you’ll find the directions in
the latest (77th) edition of Yates Garden
Guide.
